Re: ShopTalk: Re:Heavy Putter

[Bernie Baymiller]

Tom,   Yeah, one strange, heavy putter in particular that I remember was one my dad patented (you can look it up in the free patent search) back in the 1960s, I think,  when he was getting the yips with his trusty aluminum mallet. Dad had always been a wrist putter and couldn't control his distance very well in his senior years. (Don't see any wrist putters these days...but there were several very good pros on the tour who were wrist putters back then.) He realized in casting a fishing plug, the caster depended on the feel of the flex and weight of the head as he took the rod back to judge distance. So, he experimented with a heavy head and some welding rod above it, with the rod soldered in a bullet-shaped plug in a steel shaft. Eventually, he determined a 1" diameter stainless steel rod (315-320 grams) slightly flattened with a low loft on two sides and 8" of springy welding rod did the trick. I guess you could say it was back-weighted with that butt 3/4 of a 130 gram steel shaft and a heavy leather grip. The 8" of welding rod above the head certainly didn't weigh much. Dad began to sink long putts one after the other and was very good on short ones, too. I also did very well on long putts, but I had no timing at all on the short ones. Sometimes, I'd miss a 3' putt by a foot or more...gave up on that putter quickly. :-) However, dad continued to putt well with it in the USGA Seniors events he played in and won or was second in one of west coast events, I think. He'd make two or three putters and take them to the tournaments to sell. He sold enough of them that a patent company bought his patent for a pretty good price. Unfortunately, they never did anything with it. Don't think anyone would even consider trying it with the all-arm putting stroke popular today.   Bernie Write to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]   ----- Original Message ----- From: TOM FLANAGAN To: ShopTalk@mail.msen.com Sent: Sunday, May 08, 2005 2:17 PM Subject: Re: ShopTalk: Re:Heavy Putter Hey Bernie:   All this discussion about the heavy putter got me to reminiscing; remember the 3-Ball putter Rex Caldwell used to win (I think) the New Orleans Open a few years ago? And the giant aluminum head putter Nicklaus used to win the Masters? Or how about the "Inverted Loft" putter? The Bass Ackwards? The Octagon? The Hammer? There were and are dozens upon dozens of putter shapes, styles, weights, and different prices. Every one of them was "tested and proven to be superior to any design ever." Where are they now?   Speaking of lab tests, I'm sure you know that no matter what the putter design is, the first few inches of virtually any putt are a skid, not a roll. You can top the ball, you can hit it in the center, you can hit it low. The ball does not roll until after the skid stops. Hell, you can see it with the naked eye if you watch closely enough.   So, I'm not about to knock any putter design. This Heavy Putter may be terrific. I haven't seen it. I'm anxiously waiting to see it in the stores and shops. Then, after using it for a few putts I may have an opinion.   As for designs, I was approached yesterday by a guy who wants me to make him a 45" double face putter. I'm using an old Bullseye design for the project. They guy wants to putt sidesaddle, right handed for long putts, left hand for short putts. He has the yips on the short putts, hence the Bullseye. That's yet another take on putter woes.   TFlan Bernie Baymiller <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: Charlie,   Mabe you overlooked the statement about my second sentence..."if I didn't know some of the people involved." I do know you through our past correspondence and if you say your putter is as good as it is, then I don't doubt you a bit. I do doubt, or at least take with a grain of salt, any statement from a supplier I don't know. And, I do want to see some "reviews" from users I do know if I don't know the supplier. This and other clubmaking forums have had very informative new product discussions and generally honest ones. For instance, I learned from discussions on a couple of forums that the original Integra S450 (SP700 on the face near toe) was being crushed in large numbers by hard hitters, so quit using it for my long drivers. It was (and still is) a great head for me, but as I found out, the criticism was correct. I had to send back four crushed originals within two years.  And, I can remember a few instances...one in particular, wh! ere a company "spy" touting their new high tech shafts on a forum were drowned out by negative comments from those who tried the shafts. Honest reviews saved me a few bucks on more than a few occasions.